Chapter 321: Mountain Water Ox

It rained all night; today, the air at Lanruo Si is exceptionally fresh.

What drifts on the wind is a faint, natural fragrance.

Morning light spreads over the peaks, and in the dew it refracts into a faint glow, making the whole mountain look magnificent and sacred.

Throughout the temple, either the ground is paved with blue stone slabs, or a long, convenient pebble path is laid for walking.

Even if the roads are muddy on rainy days, for pilgrims the impact is not significant.

Moreover, after the rain, mushrooms slowly sprout in the mountain forests, and other things are growing faster.

As summer approaches, the temperature rises quickly, filling the whole mountain with vigorous vitality.

After Sui Sui finished her meal, she followed her brother to play behind the mountain.

Princess Consort of Qi was uneasy, so she naturally followed along the whole way.

Although Feng Xuanrui is mischievous, after experiencing the earlier events in Qingzhou, his conduct has become somewhat more steady, and he will not recklessly charge about.

So, go straight up the mountain?

That's impossible.

The rear courtyard of Lanruo Si is also large, with many plants grown there, so they have plenty to play with nearby.

Feng Xuanrui and Feng Xuanbin walked around and caught several pitch-black mountain water oxen.

Seeing the mountain water oxen, Sui Sui was not afraid but found them interesting, saying, "These things appear in great numbers after every rain!"

Although they look pitch-black and somewhat frightening,

they are actually quite interesting and do not bite people.

The System looked at this thing and for a moment did not know how to popularize knowledge about it.

However, it indeed does not bite people; it only gnaws on trees.

Therefore, it can be considered a harmful insect.

Thinking it's just children playing around, it's actually nothing much.

As long as it doesn't bite people, that's fine.

In the end, the System fell silent.

Sui Sui didn't understand, but having something small to play with made her quite happy.

Three little children gathered together to play with the pitch-black big worms, and Princess Consort of Qi, watching from the side, felt her vision darken repeatedly.

Although she might have played with them when she was young,

but she doesn't remember; it's impossible, meaning she never played with them.

However, the children like them, and she cannot say anything, so Princess Consort of Qi silently withdrew her gaze and looked toward the distant mountains and rivers.

She couldn't dissuade them, nor could she look at something else? "Mine is the biggest!"

"My whiskers are the longest!"

"Pull it out, pull it out, don't let it get away!"

……

The three children fiddled with those several big worms, and from time to time a sound could be heard.

Princess Consort of Qi, afraid of hearing the sound, thought of those worms and simply chatted with Aunt Qiu about daily matters: "I don't know how the young lady of the He Mansion is doing."

Last time they came to Lanruo Si, the other party also came over.

This time, however, they did not meet.

When they previously went to the Fǔguó Gōng Mansion, the He Mansion sent a lady from the second branch of the Ning Clan; Princess Consort of Qi was not particularly acquainted with her and did not go forward to ask more.

Now Princess Consort of Qi merely recalled this and sighed.

However, Aunt Qiu is obviously a know-it-all.

When the master brought it up, she thought for a moment and whispered: "It is said that recently they have been cooperating with an old doctor to treat the second young lady; for the treatment, they have already left the city several times, the farthest being a trip to Xinzhou, though it is uncertain whether they actually arrived there."

After hearing this, Princess Consort of Qi was stunned; after a long while she turned her head and asked in disbelief: "They all ran to Xinzhou? Wasn't it said their health had improved a bit? How could they go so far?"

Aunt Qiu did not know this either; as for the He Family's medical situation, they certainly did not keep it secret.

However, the specific circumstances were not disclosed to outsiders.

Aunt Qiu did not know, thinking that the He Family side must be hiding it and not speaking of it.

Princess Consort of Qi was curious, but she did not ask further.

Thinking about the incident involving the He Mansion's young master the day before yesterday, Princess Consort of Qi asked again: "I don't know how the young master of the He Mansion is doing now."

Nor do they know whether the mandrake has any effect on the body of such a young child.

Just thinking about it makes one's heart race, and it also makes Princess Consort of Qi more vigilant.

Children, you must be watched carefully!

Regarding this matter, Aunt Qiu actually managed to find out some information, mainly by asking Sui Si on that side; she casually asked and thus learned.

"It is said that because of a case involving Master He, those people were unable to rescue their own brothers, so they decided to attack the He Mansion's children; the wet nurse and servants guarding the young master were all killed by them and hidden in an infrequently used storeroom, which is why others did not notice anything amiss."

"Moreover, we do not know whether the young master witnessed the scene; we must not frighten the child into illness."

Upon hearing Aunt Qiu's words, Princess Consort of Qi sucked in a cold breath: "……They were all killed?"

Aunt Qiu nodded slightly: "The information gathered by Sui Si says they were all killed."

Princess Consort of Qi's face instantly turned grim; she quickly clenched her handkerchief and said uneasily: "No, later we will assign each of these children a servant skilled in martial arts."

After saying that, Princess Consort of Qi felt it was still not enough: "No, no, just that is not enough; later we will have Qing Shan and the others also learn some martial arts, so if they truly encounter danger they can at least hold out for a while while waiting for others to rescue."

At the end, Princess Consort of Qi furrowed her brows in puzzlement and asked: "Who are these people? How can they be so bold? Back in Qingzhou, they even dared to abduct the sons of our own mansion; now they are even more blatant, running all the way to the capital to abduct the sons of noble households."

Who they are, Aunt Qiu is not quite sure.

The information she gathered is merely hearsay from east and west.

As for matters related to the imperial court, she rarely asks further.

So, at this moment, Aunt Qiu couldn't explain the Princess Consort's doubt either.

Sui Sui and her two brothers were no longer playing with the water buffalo.

The few water buffalo soon grew listless from their play; before long they would be able to join their great-grandmother.

A child's interest lasts only a moment.

After playing with the water buffalo, they went to catch grasshoppers.

Sui Sui proudly told her two brothers, "This tastes great when roasted, and it's crunchy when you bite into it!"

When Sui Sui had nothing to eat before, she had indeed roasted these.

As for the grasshoppers…

The taste is not bad.

It's just that there's hardly any meat; it's all about the texture, eating a mouthful of crumbs.

But it can largely alleviate Sui Sui's hunger.

Feng Xuanrui didn't know this could still be eaten.

At this moment, hearing his sister say that, he immediately became curious.

He plucked a small grasshopper, examined it closely, then whispered, "... Can it really be eaten?"

Sui Sui nodded firmly.

Feng Xuanbin wasn't too convinced.

To him, grasshoppers are just bugs.

How could bugs be edible? But seeing his sister's determined look, Feng Xuanbin felt an urge to try.

He thought, who knows if it's edible? There are so many things in nature, many of which are edible.

Why couldn't there be just one more grasshopper?

Thinking of this, Feng Xuanbin swallowed quietly, then bumped Feng Xuanrui with his shoulder: "Sixth brother, why don't we give it a try?"

The second watch.